Happy Days

A Memory of Gorran Haven.

I am the dark haired young man sitting upright in the boat in the bottom left hand corner of the photograph taken in 1961. The boat was the Judith Mary built by Percy Mitchell for my late father, Spencer Clarke, in Portmellon in 1949. I have a cine film of the boat being launched and in fact have cine films dating from 1949, through the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties taken in Gorran Haven before video took over from cine. Archie Smith wrote a lovely little book called Laughs and Sweet Memories in which he describes many of the local fisherman from 60 or 70 years ago and many of these people appear in my cine films. Also in the photograph are Dr Caplin, Fred and Jim Liddicoat and Jack Hurrell.
Five generations of my family have holidayed and still holiday in Gorran Haven every year. I am now 76 and my grandchildren enjoy Gorran Haven as much as ever. The Judith Mary was sold and went to Penryn about 50 years ago.
Does anyone know what happened to her?
Gorran Haven has and will always hold a very special place in the hearts of my family.

Graham Clarke. Northampton. graham.jsclarke@outlook.com